System and method for adaptive battery temperature control of a vehicle over a known route

ABSTRACT

A system/method for controlling a battery temperature of a vehicle over a known route. The method may include providing a route having a starting and ending location, iteratively sensing a battery temperature of the battery when the vehicle is travelling along the route, and dividing the route into a plurality of route segments. The method may also include storing a known route having a plurality of segments where each segment has a corresponding battery temperature of the vehicle when the vehicle previously travelled along the segment. The method may also include providing a cooling device associated with a battery of the vehicle, initiating the cooling device during a previous time segment when the battery temperature for a particular time segment of the known route exceeds a high temperature threshold, and reducing an amount of battery power draw from the battery during the previous time segment.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention relates to a system and a method for adaptivelycontrolling the temperature of a vehicle's battery when the vehicle istravelling along a known route.

2. Description of the Related Art

Most vehicle batteries that are used to power hybrid and electricvehicles are designed to operate at a pre-determined operatingtemperature range. Typically, a temperature sensor is attached to orintegrated with the vehicle batteries to measure the current temperatureof the vehicle batteries. The batteries generally discharge electricitywhen the vehicle is accelerating and the batteries are charged withelectric power that is recovered when the vehicle is decelerating,sometimes referred to as regenerative braking. The battery can also becharged with electric power that is recovered during the vehicledeceleration. These discharging and charging cycles are repeated duringtravel of the vehicle, which can cause a temperature of the battery toincrease. When the temperature of the battery is higher, an internalresistance of the battery is lower and the efficiency of charging anddischarging is increased.

When the temperature of the vehicle batteries fall outside the normaloperating temperature range, the vehicle electronics usually activate acooling device (e.g., a fan) or a heating device (e.g., a heater) toadjust the temperature of the vehicle batteries so they are operatingwithin the normal operating temperature range.

However, when the battery temperature goes above a certain level, it maycause the battery electrolyte to degrade. As a result, the efficiency ofcharging and discharging the battery may be reduced. Therefore, it isdesirable to keep the battery at an efficient operating temperature thatis below the level at which the battery electrolyte degrades. To addressthis issue, Japanese Pat. Pub. No. 2005-63689A discloses a method ofcooling the battery by using a cooling fan driven by an electric motorwhen the battery temperature exceeds a threshold temperature.

According to the prior art method, by cooling the battery so as to keepthe battery temperature below a threshold temperature, the batterycharging and discharging efficiency degradation that can occur at thehigher battery temperature may be reduced. However, there is still roomfor improvements. In the prior art method, the threshold temperature tocool the battery is fixed. This can cause the cooling fan to be operatedmore often than is needed to keep the discharging and chargingefficiency close to an optimal efficiency. On the other hand, this cancause the cooling fan to operate less during other conditions, dependingon the threshold temperature setting. Also, more energy may be consumedto drive the cooling fan. Or, the battery temperature may increase morethan desired, and the efficiency of charging and discharging may bedegraded. As a result, the overall efficiency of the electric system maybe degraded.

Thus, there is a need for systems and methods, and/or devices, foradaptive battery temperature control of a vehicle over a known route.

SUMMARY

This summary is included to introduce, in an abbreviated form, varioustopics to be elaborated upon below in the Detailed Description.

Systems or methods for controlling a battery temperature of a vehicleover a known route are described. A method may include providing a routehaving a starting and ending location, iteratively (or periodically)sensing a battery temperature of the battery when the vehicle istravelling along the route, and dividing the route into a plurality ofroute segments. The method may also include storing a known route havinga plurality of segments where each segment has a corresponding batterytemperature of the vehicle when the vehicle previously travelled alongthe segment. The method may also include providing a cooling deviceassociated with a battery of the vehicle, initiating the cooling deviceduring a previous time segment when the battery temperature for aparticular time segment of the known route exceeds a high temperaturethreshold, and reducing an amount of battery power draw from the batteryduring the previous time segment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, obstacles, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the detailed description set forth below whentaken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates components of a vehicle which may be utilized in asystem or a method for adaptive battery temperature control of a vehicleover a known route according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary known route which is parsed into 5segments according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A illustrates exemplary entries within a data storage or databasewhich is contained within a memory according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary set of entries in the data storage ordatabase in an embodiment of the present methods and systems in whichthe known route is not parsed into segments;

FIG. 4A illustrates an embodiment of results for a vehicle utilizingcurrent cooling technology which does not utilize systems and methodsfor adaptive battery temperature control of a vehicle over a knownroute;

FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment of results that the vehicle, utilizingsystems and methods for adaptive battery temperature control of avehicle over a known route, may achieve; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart depicting an embodiment of systems andmethods for adaptive battery temperature control of a vehicle over aknown route.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Apparatus, systems and methods that implement the embodiments of thevarious features of the present invention will now be described withreference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptionsare provided to illustrate some embodiments of the present invention andnot to limit the scope of the present invention. Throughout thedrawings, reference numbers are re-used to indicate correspondencebetween referenced elements. A connection, when mentioned in thisdocument, may refer to any communication connection between modules, andthe communications may occur via a wired connection, a wirelessconnection, or a combination of the two.

Turning to FIG. 1, some components of a vehicle 100 are illustrated. Thecomponents of the vehicle 100 are not limited to the components shownand described in FIG. 1. The vehicle 100 may include an engine 102, abattery module (battery) 104 including at least one battery, a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 106 including at least one processor orcontroller, a memory module (memory) 108 including at least one storagedevice, a global positioning system (GPS) 110, a transmission module 112which may contain one or more motor generators for generating torquefrom the battery 104, a battery management system (BMS) 114, and/or acooling fan (fan) 116. Most of these devices may be disposed in thevehicle 100, may be located in a location remote from the vehicle 100,or may be a combination of within and remote from the vehicle 100. Thelines or connections shown in FIG. 1 can be wired, wireless or acombination thereof. Also, the lines or connections can be one way (onearrow) or two way (two arrows) showing the transfer of information anddata in one or both directions.

In one embodiment, the vehicle 100 may be propelled in a direction bypower output from the engine 102 and/or the battery 104 to thetransmission module 112. The battery 104 may include a motor forgenerating torque. The amount of power requested from the engine 102 andthe battery 104 may be communicated to the engine 102 and the battery104 by the transmission module 112. The transmission module 112 mayreceive instructions to alter the distribution of power from the CPU106. The CPU 106 may communicate with the memory 108, the GPS module110, the transmission module 112, the BMS 114, and/or the fan 116 by aconnection. The CPU 106 may also control clutching and gearingmechanisms associated with the transmission module 112 of the vehicle100. It may control these clutching and gearing mechanisms bycommunication to the engine 102 and/or the battery 104 by itself, or itmay control these mechanisms by communication to the transmission module112.

The GPS module 110 may periodically or constantly receive locationinformation from a satellite or satellites, or any other positioningdevices. The transmission module 112 may determine, based on input fromthe CPU 106, how much power output each of the battery 104 and theengine 102 should produce. In some embodiments, the BMS 114 may includeequipment to determine a current temperature of the battery 104, and maycommunicate the temperature to the CPU 106. In other embodiments, theBMS 114 collects measurements from the battery 104, sends themeasurements to the CPU 106, and then the CPU 106 calculates atemperature of the battery 104. The fan 116 may be a cooling device,such as a cooling fan driven by an electric motor, and may be instructedby the CPU 106 to operate at various speeds in order to cool the battery104. The vehicle 100 may also include additional cooling devices for thebattery 104, such as a radiator.

The engine 102 and the battery 104 may be connected to the transmissionmodule 112 with a controllable transmission input/output ratio fordriving the wheels using torque provided by the engine 102 and/or thebattery 104. The engine 102 and/or the battery 104 may be connected tothe transmission module 112, for example, via a differential linkage,power splitting mechanisms, and/or various other linkages known in theart.

A route, as used herein, may refer to a distance travelled between anevent signaling a beginning of a trip and an event signaling an end of atrip. For example, such an event may be that the ignition is turned onand subsequently turned off. Such an event may be that a door of thevehicle 100 is opened and then shut, and then the door is subsequentlyopened and shut. The time and/or location of each event may be recorded.“Time,” as used herein, may refer to a time of the day, a day of theweek, a date, or any other temporal parameter that may be storedregarding a route segment, a route and/or a route set. A “location,” asused herein, may refer to latitude or longitude coordinates, a GPSlocation, a location determined in reference to other known locations,or any other location data regarding the vehicle 100, route segment,route and/or route set.

A route set may refer to a number of different routes linked with oneanother. The distance values of each route within a route set may besummed in order to obtain a distance of the route set that includeslinked routes.

An example will be provided to describe a route set. A driver may leavehis house at a specified time in the morning every weekday to go towork. Let's assume that the driver stops at a coffee shop on his way towork every Monday and Wednesday. Let's further assume that on Mondaysand Wednesdays, the driver stops at a gym on his way home. The CPU 106may, over time, recognize that route 1 is from his house to the coffeeshop, route 2 is from the coffee shop to his work, route 3 is from hiswork to the gym, and route 4 is from the gym to his house. Furthermore,using the linking algorithm, the CPU 106 may recognize two route sets,the combination of routes 1 and 2, and the combination of routes 3 and4. For the sake of simplicity, when a route is mentioned in the presentdocument, it may be referring to a route or a route set.

A system and a method of route prediction will now be described. Thememory 108 may include a static data storage or database which mayinclude a segment list and a route list. The segment list may include aplurality of segments. Each of the plurality of segments in the segmentlist may include a segment identifier, a segment distance, one or more“to” segments, one or more “from” segments, and a plurality oflocations. The segment distance may represent the total distance of thesegment. The one or more “to” segments may include segment identifiersfor segments which have been historically traveled immediately after thesegment, and the one or more “from” segments may include identifiers forsegments which have historically been traveled immediately before thesegment. Each location may include location information, including, butnot limited to, latitude, longitude, altitude, speed, course, heading,direction, etc.

The route list may include a plurality of routes. The routes may includea route identifier and an ordered list of segments.

A dynamic data storage or database may also be included within thememory 108. The dynamic data storage or database may include a routehistory, which may include a plurality of route history entries. Each ofthe plurality of route history entries may include a route identifierand a route occurrence entry for each time the route was travelled. Eachof the plurality of route history entries may also include a start date,a start time, a day of the week, and an ordered list of segments. Eachof the segments in the ordered list may include an ordered list ofsegment identifiers, which correspond to one of the plurality ofsegments stored within the static data storage or database. Each of theplurality of segments may also include a start time, an end time, amaximum speed, a minimum speed, an average speed, etc.

An exemplary method for parsing segments will now be described. The GPSmodule 110 may receive a first signal indicative of a first locationwhich may include latitude, longitude, altitude, heading, direction,and/or speed, or any combination, along with any other information. Ifthe signal does not include a heading or a speed, the CPU 106 maycalculate a heading and/or speed based on previous location informationfrom the GPS module 110. The vehicle 100 may include sensors such as agyroscope, an accelerometer, or any other sensor, configured to detectthe heading and speed of the vehicle 100.

The vehicle 100 may store locations in the memory 108 at regular orperiodic intervals. The vehicle 100 may also store, in the memory 108,locations parsed by a predetermined distance. The locations may allinclude a timestamp, may be successively numbered, or may be placed inorder by any other method available.

In an embodiment, at least two of the locations will include a headingused for detecting when a turn has occurred. The CPU 106 may calculate adifference between the current heading and a previous heading todetermine if more than a heading threshold amount has been altered. Forexample, the heading threshold may be 50 degrees. If the CPU 106determines, by calculating the difference between the previous headingand the current heading, that the difference is 60 degrees, which isabove the heading threshold, then the CPU 106 may determine that a turnhas occurred. The heading threshold is not limited to 50 degrees, and infact may be any degree of change in heading. For example, the currentheading may be calculated based on the change in latitude and longitudebetween the current and any previous location.

This method may be used as well to calculate a previous heading. To makethis calculation, the CPU 106 may need to calculate a heading differencebetween two or more previous locations. The previous locations used tocalculate the previous heading may be calculated based on the currentspeed of the vehicle 100. For example, if the speed is less than 30 mph(miles per hour), then the previous heading may be calculated for thethird preceding location (for example, based on the difference inlatitude and longitude between the third and fourth precedinglocations). However, if the speed is between 30 mph and 60 mph, then theprevious heading may be calculated for the sixth preceding location. Oneof ordinary skill in the art will realize that the speed is notnecessary in the equation to determine a previous location, and thecorrelation between the speed and the number of previous locations maybe different than mentioned above.

With the current and previous heading information, the CPU 106 maycalculate a difference between the current and previous headings. Forexample, this may be calculated by subtracting one of the current orprevious headings from the other of the current or previous heading.

The CPU 106 may compare the difference in the current and a previousheading to determine if a turn has occurred. A turn has occurred if thedifference in headings exceeds the heading threshold.

The CPU 106 may be configured to store, in the memory 108, a segmentwhen a turn has occurred. The segments typically represent a geographicarea between detected turns, and may be stored in the segment list. Thestored segment may include a starting location and an ending location.The stored segment may also include one or more of the previouslocations. The segment may be stored in the static data storage ordatabase in the segment list and/or may be added to the ordered list ofsegments within the dynamic data storage or database. This is an exampleof one embodiment for parsing and storing segments, and there are otherembodiments which use vehicle speed, road conditions, vehicle stops,etc., as mentioned above, with which to parse routes into segments.

In this embodiment of route prediction, the CPU 106 may predict a routebased on the segment list as discussed below. In this embodiment, theCPU 106 may receive, from the GPS module 110, a second signalrepresenting another location. The second signal may include a latitude,longitude, altitude, heading and/or speed. Based on the second signaland a previous signal, the CPU 106 may identify segment candidates fromthe segment list. One method of identification is to determine thedistance between the second location and each location of each segmentin the segment list, and identify the one or more segment candidates asthose which have at least one location within a threshold distance fromthe second location. Thus, any segment within the threshold distance maybe identified as a segment candidate.

In some embodiments, a list of route candidates may be determined by theCPU 106 and stored in the memory 108. These candidates may be identifiedby determining which routes of the route list include any of the segmentcandidates, and then identifying the routes including the segmentcandidates as route candidates.

In some embodiments, the CPU 106 may calculate or assign a route weightfor each of the identified candidate routes. In one example, the routeweight for each of the identified candidate routes may be calculatedbased on information associated with that route in the memory 108. Theroute weight may be calculated based on the start date, the start time,the day of the week, the time of the day, the ratio of number of timesthe candidate route was travelled to the total number of times allcandidate routes were travelled, etc. The route weight may includemultiple components, such as when the route includes a day of the weekcomponent, a type of day component, and a time of day component. The dayof the week components may be calculated by dividing the total number oftimes that the candidate route is included in the data storage ordatabase on the current day of the week by the total number of timesthat candidate is included in the data storage or database. Along thesame manner, the type of day component may be calculated by dividing thetotal number of times the candidate was included on the current type ofday by the total number of times the candidate is in the data storage ordatabase. Similarly, a time of day weight may be calculated by dividingthe total number of times the candidate is included at the particulartime of day by the total number of times the candidate is in the datastorage or database. These are only examples and are not intended tolimit the route calculation methods.

Once the CPU 106 has calculated the route weights for all candidateroutes, the CPU 106 may select the predicted route by selecting thecandidate route with the highest route weight. The list of candidateroutes and/or candidate segments may be updated continuously orperiodically by the CPU 106 based on the current location of the GPSmodule 110.

In some embodiments, after a predicted route is selected, the GPS module110 (or any other display equipment within or displaced from the vehicle100) may display the route graphically. The display equipment mayreceive input from a user which indicates confirmation of whether thepredicted route is correct. However, some embodiments may not request aconfirmation of the predicted routes. In some embodiments, if the userindicates that the predicted route is not correct, then the CPU 106 maydisplay one or more predicted routes and request a confirmation.

The memory 108 may contain a data storage or database containing route,segment and temperature information. The driving route may be parsedinto one or more segments based on one or more different identifiers.These identifiers include, but are not limited to, a change in the speedof the vehicle 100, a cross street, a stop of the vehicle 100 (e.g.,representing anything from stopping to pick up a passenger, a stop at adefined location such as a traffic light, a stop sign, a store, a bank,a restaurant, a place of work, etc.), a turn (e.g., a curve in the road,a turn of about 90 degrees, or a U-turn, etc.), road conditions (e.g., asmooth/rough road transition, a road with many potholes, a road withroad construction materials, etc.), a predetermined distance, apredetermined travel time, an incline or decline of a road such as ahill, or any change of a setting, either driver or vehicle 100 induced.However, the presence of the identifiers may not necessarily alwaysresult in a new segment being defined.

Furthermore, to facilitate preventative cooling of the battery 104, theroute is not required to be divided into segments. For example, a routemay be stored simply as a route, without segments, and the temperatureinformation may be recorded based on distance intervals or timeintervals from the start of the route. For simplicity, all parsedsections of the route, whether segments or identified by the distancefrom the beginning of the route, will be described as “segments”.

The data storage or database may include a plurality of entries,comprising at least one route identifier, at least one segmentidentifier for each route, and/or a collection of one or moretemperature events for the segment. Each time the vehicle 100 travels ona new route, an entry for the new route and each of the new segments maybe recorded in the data storage or database within the memory 108.Additionally, each time the vehicle 100 travels on the known route, theentry for each of the segments of the known route may be updated. Forexample, the update may add any temperature event information (e.g.,data received from the BMS 114 or computed by the CPU 106) to the entry.

When the vehicle 100 traverses the known route, the CPU 106 may receive,from the memory 108, at least one of the information entries for theknown route. Based on each of the information entries and currenttemperature information received from the BMS 114 or its owncalculations, the CPU 106 may determine, for each of the segments of theknown route, if preventative cooling measures should begin. Preventativecooling measures may include engaging cooling processes, such asinstructions from the CPU 106 to the fan 116 to increase speed,instructions from the CPU 106 to the transmission module 112 for thetransmission module 112 to decrease the power output from the battery104 and/or to increase the power output from the engine 102 (in order toreduce power draw from the battery 104, thus preventing further heatingof the battery 104), or instructions from the CPU 106 to another deviceto engage in any other preventative cooling measures.

For example, the CPU 106 may determine, based on information from the atleast one entry within the data storage or database in the memory 108,that a segment, which has stored past temperature events, isapproaching. A past temperature event may be defined as a period of timeduring which the vehicle 100 was traversing at least one of thesegments, and in which the measured temperature of the battery 104 wasabove a threshold temperature. The threshold temperature may be anytemperature value in which it is desired to keep the battery 104 belowthat certain temperature in order to avoid, for example, the batteryelectrolyte from degrading. Instead of or in addition to storing thetemperature events, the CPU 106 may instruct the memory 108 to storepeak temperatures for each segment over a known route. The peaktemperatures may be stored as additional information within an entry, sothat the CPU 106 may access temperature information for each segment ofthe known route, or may be compared to the threshold value for thesegment by the CPU 106 to determine if a temperature event has occurred.In another embodiment, the CPU 106 may store in the memory 108 only anaverage temperature for each segment of the known route.

If the CPU 106 determines that an approaching segment has previouslyreported temperature events, the CPU 106 may instruct the fan 116, thetransmission module 112 and/or any other cooling device, to begin thepreventative cooling measures. The preventative cooling measure(s) maybe initiated during a prior segment (e.g., one segment earlier, twosegments earlier, etc.) depending on the time period of the earliersegments and the amount of time needed to provide the proper cooling. Insome embodiments, the vehicle 100 may comprise a radiator system as acooling device (not shown). The radiator system may pump liquid coolantthrough ducts which are located near and/or connected to the battery104, such that the temperature of the battery 104 is reduced by theliquid coolant composition. The preventative cooling measures may beinitiated by the CPU 106 at any point before and/or during the segment,which has previously reported temperature events, has been traversed.The CPU 106 may determine when one or more of the preventative coolingmeasures should begin based on information stored in the data storage ordatabase, such as how long the temperature event lasted, if one or moreadditional segments in which the vehicle 100 is to traverse on the knownroute has recorded temperature events, the current temperature values,the values of the temperature events, or any other informationassociated with the segment. The CPU 106 may also use this informationto determine at which levels the preventative cooling measures shouldoperate, for how long each of the preventative cooling measures shouldoperate, and whether the values of the preventative cooling measuresshould be altered at any point in time in the future, and if so to whatvalues they should be altered. The CPU 106 may continue to make thesedeterminations during the entirety of the known route.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary known route, Route A. Route A may beparsed into 5 segments: S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5. Each of the segmentsillustrated in FIG. 2 is 0.5 km (kilometers) in length. The segments maybe parsed by any of the identifiers discussed above in reference toFIG. 1. S1, S2 and S5 are relatively flat segments of Route A. S3contains an increase in elevation, while S4 contains a decrease inelevation.

FIG. 3A shows exemplary entries within the data storage or database,which is contained within the memory 108. The information in the datastorage or database may include the known route, the segments and thetemperature events. The entries may also contain the peak temperaturesfor each time each of the segments were traveled. The entries may alsocontain one threshold temperature value for the route, the segmentswithin the route, or the vehicle without regard to the segment or theroute.

The exemplary entries shown in FIG. 3A correspond to the known routeshown in FIG. 2. Each entry in this example contains a valuecorresponding to the route, a value corresponding to the segment, and avalue corresponding to each of the temperature events.

The temperature events values may contain any temperatures that wereover the threshold, all peak temperatures for each segment, simply thefact that a temperature value exceeded the threshold temperature value,the difference between the threshold and the actual temperature values,and/or any other information associated with the temperature of thebattery 104.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 3A, all of the entries are associatedwith the known route, Route A. There are 5 recorded segments withinRoute A which correlate to the segments shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 3A, segments S1 and S2 are not associated with anytemperature events. However, segments S3 and S4 are associated withtemperature events. Segment S3 may be associated with temperature eventsbecause the increase in altitude over segment S3 requires more power,and more power output results in a rise in temperature. S4 may beassociated with temperature events because segment S3 increases inaltitude, thus requiring more power to traverse than the previoussegments. An increase in power required from the battery 104 may resultin a higher temperature for a period of time longer than the period oftime that the power required is greater than normal. Thus, segment S4may also have a recorded temperature event. Segment S4, a downhillsegment, may also be associated with temperature events because adownhill segment may cause a high load on the battery 104, as the powerof the engine 102 may be very low and most of the requested power maycome from the battery 104, as well as momentum. This high load may causethe temperature of the battery 104 to increase. Temperatures may alsoincrease because of charging from regenerative braking, which may occurduring a downhill segment. Segment S5 may also have a recordedtemperature event as an increase in battery temperature may notimmediately be corrected utilizing cooling measures. Thus, segment S5may have residual high temperature effects from the uphill segment S3and the downhill segment S4.

FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary set of entries in the data storage ordatabase in an embodiment in which the known route is not parsed intosegments. The route and the temperature events are the same (or similar)as shown in FIG. 3A. However, instead of including a column which storesvalues for segments, FIG. 3B includes a column which stores values forthe distance from the start of the known route to the present location.The route may also be parsed, for example, by a time elapsed from thestart of the route. By storing the information in the manner illustratedby FIG. 3B, the method and/or the system may require less dataprocessing from the CPU 106. This is because storing an entry for eachiteration of the predetermined distance or time may require less dataprocessing than parsing the route into segments. Additionally, the routemay be parsed by periodic periods of time, by the location of thevehicle 100 during temperature events, etc.

FIG. 4A illustrates results from an embodiment for a vehicle utilizingcurrent cooling technology which does not utilize systems and methodsfor adaptive battery temperature control of a vehicle over a knownroute. FIG. 4A illustrates, for each of the segments in the known route,Route A, a value representing a fan speed correlating to the segment, avalue representing a percentage of power drawn from the battery 104, avalue representing a percentage of power drawn from the engine 102, anda value representing the temperature of the battery 104 during thesegment.

As illustrated in rows 400 and 402, during segments S1 and S2, the fanspeed operated at a level 5 out of 10, and the power distribution wasequal between the battery 104 and the engine 102, with 50% of the totalpower coming from each. Finally, the recorded battery temperatures forboth S1 and S2 were recorded as normal.

Row 404, associated with segment S3, illustrates the results of thevehicle 100 increasing in altitude. For the vehicle 100 to increase inaltitude, more power may be required. This may result in the batterytemperature increasing, as an increase in the power output of thebattery 104 may result in an increase in the temperature of the battery104. As the temperature increases, a temperature event may occur. It isimportant to note that many more events than an increase in elevation ofthe vehicle 100 may cause a temperature event. In previous systemswithout preventative cooling, this meant that cooling measures may beginimmediately. Thus, in row 404, the CPU 106 may direct the transmissionmodule 112 to request 90% of the required power from the engine 102 andonly 10% of the required power from the battery 104. Likewise, the CPU106 may instruct the fan 116 to operate at level 9 out of 10. Whilethese cooling measures are occurring, the battery 104 temperature mayremain over the threshold temperature value, as the cooling process doesnot cool the battery 104 to a normal level immediately.

Row 406, associated with segment S4, illustrates the results of thevehicle 100 decreasing in altitude. When the vehicle 100 decreases inaltitude, the engine's 102 power output may be very low, thus most ofthe power may be provided by the battery 104. This may result in thebattery temperature increasing, as an increase in the power output ofthe battery 104 may result in an increase in the temperature of thebattery 104. As the temperature increases, a temperature event mayoccur. Additionally, during downhill segments, regenerative braking maycontribute power in order to partially recharge the battery 104.Recharging the battery 104 may also cause the temperature of the battery104 to increase. Thus, in row 406, the CPU 106 may direct thetransmission module 112 to request 80% of the required power from theengine 102 and only 20% of the required power from the battery 104,although normally in a downhill segment, the battery 104 provides mostof the power. Likewise, the CPU 106 may instruct the fan 116 to operateat level 8 out of 10. While these cooling measures are occurring, thebattery temperature may remain over the threshold temperature value, asthe cooling process does not cool the battery 104 to a normal levelimmediately.

Row 408, associated with segment S5, illustrates the fact that thecooling measures have had a cooling effect on the temperature of thebattery 104, but have not yet returned the battery temperature to anormal temperature. The power distribution may return towards normal;the CPU 106 may now request only 70% of the power to come from theengine 102 and 30% of the power to come from the battery 104. Similarly,the CPU 106 may direct the fan 116 to operate at level 7 out of 10.However, while the temperature is returning to normal, the temperatureof the battery 104 may still be over the threshold temperature value.

FIG. 4B illustrates results from one embodiment that a vehicle,utilizing systems and methods for adaptive battery temperature controlof a vehicle over a known route, may achieve. Segments S1 and S2 do notinclude any segment of the known route, Route A, which should result ina rise in the temperature of the battery 104. However, utilizing thepresent systems and methods, the CPU 106 may determine that segments S3and S4 have recorded temperature events associated with them. Aftermaking this determination, the CPU 106 may request that the fan 116and/or the transmission module 112 engage in the preventative coolingmeasures. For example, in rows 410 and 412, the CPU 106 has instructedthe transmission module 112 to request 40% of the required power fromthe battery 104 and 60% of the required power from the engine 102. Thisresults in less buildup of heat in the battery 104 prior to reaching thelocations correlated with the temperature events. Likewise, the CPU 106may instruct, in row 412, the fan speed to increase slightly to level 7out of 10. As a result, the temperature of the battery 104 duringsegment S2 may be reduced to a cool level in anticipation of the segmentassociated with temperature events.

In row 414, as the vehicle 100 is climbing in altitude but thepreventative cooling measures have been in place for a previous periodof time, the CPU 106 may request that the fan speed remain at a level 7out of 10. The CPU 106 may request that the transmission module 112request 30% of the required power from the battery 104 and 70% of therequired power from the engine 102. The temperature of the battery 104may increase during segment S3, but as the preventative cooling measurescaused the temperature of the battery 104 to be at a cool level duringsegment S2, the temperature of the battery 104 may only increase to anormal level.

In order to keep the temperature of the battery 104 at or below a normallevel, the preventative cooling measures may continue during segment S4.As shown, the CPU 106 may request that the fan 116 operate at a speed 6out of 10. However, as the battery temperature is at a normal level, theCPU 106 may instruct the transmission 112 to request less power from theengine 102 and more power from the battery 104, which may be preferredduring a downhill segment. Thus, the transmission may request 90% of thepower from the battery 104 and only 10% of the power from the engine102.

Row 418 illustrates that during segment S5, no preventative coolingmeasures are required, and that the temperature of the battery 104remains at a normal level.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart depicting an embodiment of systems andmethods for adaptive battery temperature control of a vehicle over aknown route. The process may begin in block 500, where the CPU 106determines whether or not the current segment is known, as discussedabove. If the current segment is known, then the process may move toblock 502, where the CPU 106 predicts a route, as described above. Inblock 504, the CPU 106 may determine if the predicted route is stillvalid, for example, if the next segment is stored in the memory 108 asassociated with the predicted route, or if the present heading, a changeof direction, user input, etc. correlate to the predicted routeinformation. If the prediction is still valid, in block 506, the CPU 106may determine if, in the memory 108, a future temperature event isassociated with the predicted route. If a future temperature event isknown, in block 508, the CPU 106 may apply any cooling measures, such asincreasing the fan speed, altering (i.e., increasing or decreasing) thepower input from the battery 104 and the engine 102, possibly utilizingthe transmission module 112, etc. The CPU 106 may determine the level ofthe cooling measure(s), which cooling measures to utilize, for how longto apply each cooling measure, etc., based on, for example, the value ofthe temperature event(s), how far in the future the temperature event(s)are, how long it may take to cool the battery 104 such that atemperature event is prevented, which preventative cooling measures arebest at which levels in order to optimize performance, if temperatureevents exist beyond the upcoming temperature event, how long it willtake to cool the battery 104 after the location of the upcomingtemperature event, a driving pattern of a particular driver, the optimumtemperature of the battery 104 required in order to optimize performanceand energy efficiency, etc.

In block 510, the CPU 106 may apply additional cooling measures if anunknown temperature event occurs. In block 512, the CPU 106 determineswhether or not the segment has ended. This may be determined by, forexample, the known segment having been completed, an identifier which ischosen to parse routes into segments is encountered, etc. If the segmenthas not ended, the process may return to block 502.

If the segment has been determined to be ended, in block 514, segmentinformation, such as any new “from” segments, “to” segments, temperatureevents, etc. associated with the segment may be recorded by the CPU 106in the memory 108. In block 516, the CPU 106 may determine if the routehas ended. This may be determined, for example, if the vehicle 100 stopsfor a period of time, if the vehicle 100 turns off or is turned off, ifthe CPU 106 determines that all segments of a known route have beencompleted, etc. If the route has not ended, then the process may returnto block 500.

If the route has ended, in block 518, the CPU 106 may determine if theroute is a new route or not. This may be determined by checking recordsin the memory 108 to determine whether or not there is a record of theroute. If the route is not a new route, then in block 520, anyadditional temperature events, associated with any segment of the route,may be stored in the memory 108. If, in block 518, the route isdetermined to be a new route, then in block 522, the CPU 106 may store,in the memory 108, new route settings and information. For example, thisinformation may include route identifiers and information, segmentidentifiers and information, and any temperature events for any segmentof the route.

If, in block 500, it is determined that the segment is not known, thenthe CPU 106 may, in block 524, record segment information, such as any“from” segment, “to” segment, location information, etc. in the memory108. Additionally, any new temperature events may be stored in thememory 108 to be associated with the new segment. Also, any coolingmeasures for any temperature events may be requested by the CPU 106.

Those of ordinary skill would appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, and algorithm steps described in connectionwith the examples disclosed herein may be implemented as electronichardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Furthermore, thepresent invention can also be embodied on a machine readable mediumcausing a processor or computer to perform or execute certain functions.

To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepshave been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the describedfunctionality in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the disclosed apparatus and methods.

The various illustrative logical blocks, units, modules, and circuitsdescribed in connection with the examples disclosed herein may beimplemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with theexamples disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.The steps of the method or algorithm may also be performed in analternate order from those provided in the examples. A software modulemay reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROMmemory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any otherform of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium iscoupled to the processor such that the processor can read informationfrom, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative,the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor andthe storage medium may reside in an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC). The ASIC may reside in a wireless modem. In thealternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discretecomponents in the wireless modem.

The previous description of the disclosed examples is provided to enableany person of ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosedmethods and apparatus. Various modifications to these examples will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the principles definedherein may be applied to other examples without departing from thespirit or scope of the disclosed method and apparatus. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive and the scope of the invention is, therefore,indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling a battery temperature ofa vehicle over a known route, the method comprising: providing, using aprocessor, a route having a starting location, an ending location, andat least one segment; iteratively sensing, using a sensor coupled to abattery, a battery temperature of the battery when the vehicle istravelling along the route; dividing, using the processor, the routeinto a plurality of route segments; calculating a temperature event,using the processor, when the battery temperature rises to or above athreshold temperature; storing, in a memory, a temperature eventassociated with a segment of the route which correlates to a known routein the memory, wherein the temperature event was recorded while thevehicle previously traversed the known route; providing at least onecooling measure to cool a battery of the vehicle; and initiating the atleast one cooling measure during a previous time segment when thetemperature event has been recorded for a particular time segment of theknown route.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one coolingmeasure comprises a cooling device associated with the battery of thevehicle.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one coolingmeasure comprises reducing, using the processor, a power output of thebattery.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the at least one coolingmeasure also comprises reducing, using the processor, an amount ofbattery power draw from the battery during the previous time segment. 5.The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one cooling measure comprisespumping, through ducting connected to the battery, a liquid coolingcomposition.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the temperature event iscaused by at least one of a power request initiated by a driver, a powerrequest initiated by the vehicle or a battery charge event.
 7. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the route includes a number of differentroutes linked with one another in the memory.
 8. The method of claim 1further comprising: selecting, using the processor, at least onecandidate route; assigning, using the processor, a route weight for eachof the at least one candidate route; and selecting, using the processor,a candidate route with the highest route weight to define a predictedroute.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the processor designates thepredicted route as the route.
 10. The method of claim 8 whereinselecting, using the processor, the at least one candidate route isperformed by identifying the candidate routes as routes which have atleast one location within a threshold distance of a second location. 11.The method of claim 8 wherein selecting the predicted route is performedby the processor based on at least one of a first location, a secondlocation, a current time of day, a current date or a ratio of number oftimes the candidate route was travelled to the total number of times allcandidate routes were travelled.
 12. The method of claim 8 furthercomprising determining, using the processor, at the end of the drivingroute, whether the driving route is a new route, based on informationstored in the memory.
 13. The method of claim 12 further comprisingupdating, in the memory, any temperature events which occur on a segmentof the driving route, if the driving route is not a new route.
 14. Themethod of claim 12 further comprising storing, in the memory, locationinformation for each segment of the driving route and a temperatureevent which occurs on a segment of the driving route, and associatingthis information with a new route identifier, if the driving route is anew route.
 15. An apparatus for controlling a battery temperature of avehicle over a known route, the apparatus comprising: a processorconfigured to: provide a route having a starting location, an endinglocation, and at least one segment; divide the route into a plurality ofroute segments; and calculate a temperature event when the batterytemperature rises to or above a threshold temperature; a memoryconfigured to store a temperature event associated with a segment of theroute which correlates to a known route in the memory, wherein thetemperature event was recorded while the vehicle previously traversedthe known route; a sensor configured to iteratively sense a batterytemperature of the battery when the vehicle is travelling along theroute; and at least one cooling mechanism configured to reduce thetemperature of the battery.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the atleast one cooling mechanism comprises a fan configured to blow air in avicinity of the battery.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the atleast one cooling mechanism comprises a radiator system configured topump a liquid cooling composition in the vicinity of the battery. 18.The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the at least one cooling mechanismcomprises a transmission for reducing a power output of the battery. 19.The apparatus of claim 15 further comprising a GPS device for obtainingvehicle location information.
 20. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein theprocessor is further configured to: select at least one candidate route;assign a route weight for each of the candidate routes; and predict apredicted route by selecting the candidate route with the highest routeweight.